Category Archives: Track & Field
The New kid on the block, well sort of...
Matt Centrowitz has been hammering runners in high school since his freshman year and destroying his competition in the Pac-12 likes it’s his job. Recently he has been making a quite a name for himself on the international scene, as in winning Bronze with a blazing time of 3:36.08 in the 1,500m at the World Championships in Korea this summer. The East Africans, Europeans and even the Russians are standing up and are being forced to take notice of this young blooded race horse from the Good old' U.S. of A.
Matt has racing in his blood as his father was a Two-Time Olympian and a four-time United States Champion in the 5000m, so for him to take the next step to world class running only makes sense. Please keep an eye out for Matt and his ferocious kick on the Tracks all throughout Europe and the Diamond League this summer.
For more information and stats go to http://www.usatf.org/athletes/bios/Centrowitz_Matthew.asp
Until next time...
Go Get'em
Coach Cawood
Man or Woman?
Mokgadi Caster Semenya (born 7 January 1991) is a South African middle-distance runner and world champion. Semenya won gold in the women's 800 metres at the 2009 World Championships with a time of 1:55.45 in the final.
Following her victory at the 2009 World Championships questions were raised about whether Semenya has an intersex condition that might give her an unfair advantage over the other racers. She was withdrawn from international competition until 6 July 2010 when the IAAF cleared her to return to competition.
The IAAF's handling of the case spurred many negative reactions. A number of athletes, including retired sprinter Michael Johnson, criticized the organization for its response to the incident. Prominent South African civic leaders, commentators, politicians, and activists characterized the controversy as racist, as well as an affront to Semenya's privacy and human rights. The IAAF said it only made the test public after it had already been reported in the media, denying charges of racism and expressing regret about "the allegations being made about the reasons for which these tests are being conducted." The federation also explained that the motivation for the test was not suspected cheating but a desire to determine whether she had a "rare medical condition" giving her an unfair competitive advantage. The president of the IAAF stated that the case could have been handled with more sensitivity. In an interview with South African magazine YOU Semenya stated, "God made me the way I am and I accept myself." She also took part in a makeover with the magazine.
On 7 September 2009, Wilfred Daniels, Semenya's coach with Athletics South Africa (ASA), resigned because he felt that ASA "did not advise Ms. Semenya properly". He apologized for personally having failed to protect her.[28] Athletics South Africa President Leonard Chuene admitted on 19 September 2009 to having subjected Semenya to gender tests. He had previously lied to Semenya about the purpose of the tests and to others about having performed the tests. He ignored a request from ASA team doctor Harold Adams to withdraw Semenya from the world championships over concerns about the need to keep her medical records confidential.On the recommendation of South Africa's Minister for Sport and Recreation, Makhenkesi Stofile, Semenya retained the legal firm Dewey & LeBoeuf who are acting pro bono "to make certain that her civil and legal rights and dignity as a person are fully protected." Following the furore over her gender, Semenya received great support within South Africa, to the extent of being called a cause celebre.
In November 2009 South Africa's sports ministry issued a statement that Semenya had reached an agreement with the IAAF to keep her medal and the prize money. The ministry did not say if she would be allowed to compete as a woman but they did note that the IAAF's threshold for when a female is considered ineligible to compete as a woman is unclear. In December 2009 Track and Field News voted Semenya the Number One Women's 800 metre runner of the year.
2010 - While Caster Semenya's return to athletics has been fairly smooth up to this point, there could be some rocky road ahead as her fellow athletes prepare to have their say.
Semenya aims to bag her fourth successive win since making her comeback after a probe into her gender kept her off the track for 11 months.
However, Jemma Simpson of Great Britain, who lines up in Brussels, Belgium, and Canadian Diane Cummins, who doesn't, have continued to question the teenager's eligibilty to run against women, with rumours abounding that an athlete protest is imminent.
The IAAF have refused to comment on what medical procedures were followed before she was cleared, and her competitors are showing increasing frustration as the 19-year-old from Limpopo continues to obliterate the best female 800m runners in the world with consummate ease.
The only other South African in action in Brussels is 1 500m specialist Johan Cronje who faces a tremendous challenge against a 19-man field which includes the likes of Olympic champion Asbel Kiprop from Kenya and his versatile compatriot, Augustine Choge. MULAUDZI PRAISE
League season standings, and in his absence Rudisha should easily win the race for the grand prize. The Kenyan sensation needs to finish only third to top the standings.
It is a rough situation for not only the Athlete, but also for the governing powers of International Track & Field...
You decide! And in the mean time, whether you male or female, you better be running!
Got Get'em!
Information Compliments of:
New World Record for 800m, 1:41.09 !!!
Kenya will be rolling out the red carpet for the new national hero, New World Record Holder and future 800m star, David Lekuta Rudisha!
Born in kovai, Trans Mara District, Rudisha went to St. Francis, Kimuron Secondary School in Iten, Keiyo District which is known for nurturing several top runners. Initially he was a 400 metres runner, but his coach, Colm O’Connell, prompted him to try 800 metres. In 2006 he became the world junior champion over the distance.[1]
Rudisha is a member of the Maasai tribe. Rudisha's father, Daniel Rudisha, is a former runner who won silver at the 1968 Olympics as part of the Kenyan 4x400 m relay team.
His time shaved two hundredths of a second off the previous best mark set by Denmark's Kenyan-born Wilson Kipketer in Aug 1997.
The 21-year-old, world junior champion at the same distance in 2006, was led through the first 400m by pacesetter Sammy Tangui in 48.65secs.
Rudisha then managed to keep up his pace through to the line to break Kipketer's long-standing record, something he had recently been threatening to do, such has been his form on the track.
At a meet in the Belgian city of Heusden-Zolder in July, Rudisha timed 1:41.51, an African record and the fastest time in the world since Kipketer set the previous best 13 years ago.
Rudisha competed at the 2009 World Athletics Championships, reaching the 800 metres semifinals. In September 2009, Rudisha won the IAAF Grand Prix meeting in Rieti, Italy, posting a new African record of 1:42.01, beating the 25-year old record of 1:42.28 set by compatriot Sammy Koskei. That effort put him in fourth place on the all-time list. In the 2010 IAAF Diamond League, he took on Abubaker Kaki at the Bislett Games in June. He defeated Sebastian Coe's 31-year-old meet record with a run of 1:42.04, giving him another place in the top-ten fastest ever 800 m and leaving Kaki the consolation of the fastest ever non-winning time. On July 10, 2010, Rudisha ran the 800 m in 1:41.51 at the KBC Night of Athletics in Heusden, Belgium; this new personal record placed him #2 all-time in the world for the 800 m.
Rudisha currently holds the world record for the 800 m. He broke the record at the ISTAF IAAF World Challenge meet in Berlin on 22 August 2010, with a time of 1:41.09. The previous record, held by Kenyan-born Danish Citizen runner Wilson Kipketer, had stood since 1997; Rudisha broke the record by 0.02 seconds. Rudisha claimed that it had been his "first real attempt" at breaking the record, and that he was capable of improving the time.
800m record breakers:
1:41.09: David Lekuta Rudisha (KEN), 22/08/10 at Berlin
1:41.11: Wilson Kipketer (DEN), 24/08/97 at Cologne (GER)
1:41:24: Wilson Kipketer (DEN), 13/08/97 at Zurich (SUI)
1:41:73: Wilson Kipketer (DEN), 07/07/97 at Stockholm
1:41:73: Sebastian Coe (GBR), 10/06/81 at Florence (ITA)
1:42.33: Sebastian Coe (GBR), 05/07/79 at Oslo
1:43.40: Alberto Juantorena (CUB), 21/08/77 at Sofia
1:43.50: Alberto Juantorena (CUB), 25/07/76 at Montreal (CAN)
1:43.70: Marcello Fiasconaro (ITA), 27/06/73 at Milan (ITA)
1:44.30: David Wottle (USA), 01/07/72 at Eugene (USA)
To get a better idea of the extreme speed above, go out to your local 400m track and see what you can do for 800m or two laps! When you look down at your watch after your two laps, compare it to the times above and you will have a new found respect for these specialists of covering ground afoot...
Until next time...
Go Get'em"
INFORMATION COMPLIMENTS OF:
WIKIPEDIA.COM
TELEGRAPH.CO.UK
Adidas Grand Prix and some all sorts…
Adidas Grand Prix is in full swing! You have to check out the latest pictures to see the very best the world has to offer in Track & Field.
Please click on this link below to see the pictures:
http://www.runnersworld.com/photo/2010adidasgrandprix/
To catch all the exciting highlights, news updates and schedules please visit:
http://www.diamondleague-newyork.com/
I have to tell you between the NCAA Track & Field Meet, the 2010 World Cup and the Diamond League I am all tapped out!
Go Get’Em!!!
